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TECHNOLOGY & EVENTS / PLDC 2015
AN EDUCATED DECISION This year’s Professional Lighting Design Conference was considered by many as ‘the’ place to see the latest in product innovation and inspiring presentations, while providing plenty of opportunities to socialise with old and new friends alike. Here, we bring you a taste of mondo*arc’s experience of the event. The interdisciplinary structure of the Professional Lighting Design Conference (PLDC) promotes future-oriented discussion on the importance of light and the lighting design profession. In Rome, lighting designers, architects, clients, researchers, educators and the lighting industry were present and open to discuss the quality of light in architecture, and to discover and develop trends. PLDC 2015 took place under the patronage of the Roman Chapter of Architects, Urban Planners, Landscape Architects and Curators. The main theme this year was Light and Culture. The organisers chose Italy as a location because historical roots and modern lighting technology make for
an especially exciting contrast, and this is especially evident in Italy. Museum and gallery lighting, and the illumination of historic sites such as the Colosseum can benefit from modern technologies, bridging the gap between the past and the future of urban life in a tourist city. Keynote speakers included: Prof. Dr. Arnold Nesselrath; Ricardo Marini; Ilaria Abbondandolo; Klaus Obermaier; Daniel Latorre; and Michele Molé. The event closed with a spectacular gala dinner and PLDR Awards ceremony at the Cinecittá film studios. Prinicipal Designer and Artistic Director for the evening was ACET’s Koert Vermeulen with the awards moderated by Sharon Stammers and Martin
Lupton of Light Collective. Winners included: Pernille Krieger and Eik Lykke Nielsen from the University of Aarhus/DK, winners of The Challenge; Best Newcomer went to Kerem Ali Asfuroglu; Best Industry Innovation went to Arduino; Dorit Malin from Israel received the Award for Education; The Award for Research went to Dr Karolina Zielinska-Dabkowska; Artist Raphael Hefti won the Award for Best Daylighting Project; Gunver Hansen from Copenhagen won Best New Project; The Award at Large was presented to Daan Roosegaarde; and finally the Lifetime Award went to Motoko Ishii for her life’s work. PLDC 2017 will take place in Paris, for more information visit: www.pld-c.com
NULTY+ / XICATO During this year’s PLDC, Claire Hamill of Nulty+ gave a talk detailing her research paper on one of the largest issues facing cosmetic retailers; the number of customer complaints and returns due to mismatched foundation shades. Carried out alongside the University College London (UCL) and supported by Xicato, for a leading global cosmetics brand, Hamill was supported by fellow designers Anna Sandgren and Christina Hebert, who developed a controlled experiment to investigate optimum light source specifications for foundation colour matching within cosmetics stores and concessions. The research, which in part was continued during PLDC in one of the experience
rooms, aimed to prove that by finding the correct quality of light / Spectral Power Distribution (SPD) for colour matching, customers would in turn have a better brand experience, reducing product returns and ultimately increasing profits for cosmetics retailers. The results were collated and analysed by UCL and from there Xicato has developed a commercial LED module Beauty Series in direct response to the research findings and aiming to produce the best balance between beautiful, natural skin tones and colour discrimination. Hamill said: “Accurate rendering of skin tone is a difficult challenge, because skin is such a rich and complex palette, consisting of many subtle shades. Our studies show that people feel good when they
look good. This means that human-centric lighting should be applicable anywhere it is important for people to look and feel good.” Roger Sexton, VP of Specifier Services at Xicato added: “Nulty+ together with UCL defined a retail lighting issue, weighed up scientifically different possible solutions and now continue with an in store longitudinal study. I find this a fantastic model of how to carry out market based product research.” The Beauty Series LED module has since been designed into a new lighting scheme at a flagship cosmetic store in Covent Garden, London by the team at Nulty+. Over a one year test period sales, dwell times and product returns will be compared with averages within other stores across London.